The nose landing gear of a fixed wing aircraft is commonly configured to retract into the fuselage of the aircraft during flight and to deploy prior to landings. The retraction and the deployment of the nose landing gear are hydraulically actuated. Sometimes, however, hydraulic systems malfunction. Modern aircraft include an emergency system that can deploy the nose landing gear in the event that the hydraulic system fails during flight. Such emergency systems use a canister of compressed gas (commonly nitrogen) to deploy the landing gear.
These emergency systems are tested when the aircraft is manufactured. The aircraft is hoisted above the ground and the compressed gas is discharged to confirm that the nose landing gear will deploy. This is referred to a “blow down” test. This blow down test is repeated a number of times during the manufacturing process to confirm the efficacy of the emergency system and is also performed from time to time after the aircraft has been placed in service.
When the compressed gas is released, hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic lines will be exposed to the compressed gas and will be emitted from the aircraft via an ejection port located in the side of the aircraft. The hydraulic fluid may be emitted as a mist, as a liquid, and/or some combination of the two. Accordingly, the technicians performing the test and any other persons in the vicinity of the aircraft during such testing may be exposed to the emitted hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic fluid is a caustic substance that can irritate a person's skin, eyes, and lungs. For this reason, contact with the hydraulic fluid emitted during blow down testing is undesirable.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an emission-capturing apparatus and a method for capturing emissions from an ejection port on the side of an aircraft. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.